kjay wrote: I regitered for our local "Big City" marathon... Toledo, Ohio. It's called the Glass City Marathon and 7000 people who register, but that is including the 5k, half marathon, and the 26.2. The cool thing about these organized races is I always find someone slower than me

Sounds fantastic. And there'll be elite Kenyans running that marathon too, no doubt. And just think, you're competing in the same race as them; isn't that great? What other sport do we get to compete with the elite-level, other than running?

Are you following a training program? Hal Higdon training programs are popular (free on the internet) but Mrs Tosh (a very experienced marathoner) swears by the Hanson program, which makes sense if you look into the science behind it.

Come, come, whoever you are. Wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving. It doesn't matter. Ours is not a caravan of despair. Come, even if you have broken your vows a thousand times. Come, yet again, come, come.” Rumi (No sniggering from the sex addicts)

kjay wrote:Yes. I'm using Hal Higdon. I will look into the Hanson as well. Thanks!

It's something to do with the infamous 20 mile run. In the 1970s marathoners were a strange lot - they'd run really fast marathons for just a mug of water - and they could do their 20 mile long training run in around two-and-a-half hours.

But everyone focussed on the 20 mile run and thought that was the distance needed to train for to be able to run 26.2 miles, and this thinking went on for years, without anyone thinking about the two-and-a-half hours they ran it in; so fatties like myself would build upto 20 miles and I'd do mine in about three-and-a-half hours to four hours.

However, science has shown that long runs of longer than two-and-a-half hours don't really do anything for our bodies apart from fatigue them, leaving us tired for subsequent training sessions and increasing our risk of injury. There might be a psychological benefit, but this may possibly outweigh the negatives.

So the Hanson method operates around long runs of no longer than two-and-a-half hours, followed by a shorter run the following day, so that we get used to running on tired legs. Mrs Tosh got a huge personal best following the Hanson program, as opposed to when she used a Hal Higdon one. She's ran about twenty marathons too.

I'm not very good at following programs!

Come, come, whoever you are. Wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving. It doesn't matter. Ours is not a caravan of despair. Come, even if you have broken your vows a thousand times. Come, yet again, come, come.” Rumi (No sniggering from the sex addicts)

brontoset wrote:When I was on vacation in Miami, I did a lot of cycling and it felt great! Unfortunately, I live in New York, and due to weather, cycling is not a current possibility

Running is better than cycling. It's cheaper, more convenient, you don't get punctures, there's no traffic to kill you, you can run anywhere - in places where you couldn't get a bike to - and there's no requirement to wear spandex either.

I hear you've had a bit of snow your way?

Come, come, whoever you are. Wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving. It doesn't matter. Ours is not a caravan of despair. Come, even if you have broken your vows a thousand times. Come, yet again, come, come.” Rumi (No sniggering from the sex addicts)

Thought I would give a shout out to ya'll. Running has given me some great joy since the last time I checked in. I joined a training group lead by a local running shop and they have helped me get those miles in when I would rather be hibernating from the cold. Some of the mornings we ran with ice forming on our eyelashes. It's been a great winter and I have definatly improved alot. I will be setting a new personal record at the next half marathon I signed up for at the end of April. I'm hoping to be just short of 2:25:00 Wish me luck!

After the half, it should be warm enough to get the bike back out to do some cross training.

Good luck, Kjay. Running with a group of other runners is great for motivation. If I'm going for a run by myself, sometimes I won't bother, but if I have a time and a place to be because others are going to be there, I'm there. There is power in the 'WE', but we already know that.

I've had to rest and cut back my mileage, and cross train, because I've shin pain that I just can't seem to shake. I'm not doing the Ultra in May (Mrs Tosh still is), but we plan to do one in October, a 50 mile event around the Gower peninsular (a beautiful place that we ran a coastal marathon around a few years back now).

So I'm Mrs Tosh's support team for the 42 mile ultra, which is a bit disappointing because I trained hard and wanted to do it with her. Never mind though, I guess I'll just have to be of service to her instead and meet up along the route with water, food, and shouts of "hurry up, hanging about for you is flipping boring!".

Good luck with the April half.

Come, come, whoever you are. Wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving. It doesn't matter. Ours is not a caravan of despair. Come, even if you have broken your vows a thousand times. Come, yet again, come, come.” Rumi (No sniggering from the sex addicts)

kjay wrote:Thanks for the repy Tosh. How is your shin splints? Also how did Mrs. Tosh do in the 42miler?

Hi kjay, and thanks for asking. My shins are just about recovered - I hope - so I'm starting back running, and Mrs Tosh doesn't run her 42 mile thing till 24th May, but she did run a 30 mile Ultra marathon two weeks ago - it was a race but she used it for training - and she came 2nd lady and 22nd overall. It was a tough coastal route too, which passed 19 beaches, which meant lots of steep descents down to these beaches and then climbs back out of them. She's super-human.

She's got about another two weeks of tough training and then it's a taper down to race day. She's quite looking forward to doing it, but she usually experiences some low-level depression after some big event she's trained long and hard for, which I'm not looking forward to (of course it's about me; what else is there? ).

Me and the dog were here support team, which meant we went looking for burger vans to eat from in-between shouting "Hurry up, we're getting flipping bored here", before driving to another part of course to yell more abuse at her.

How's your running going?

Come, come, whoever you are. Wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving. It doesn't matter. Ours is not a caravan of despair. Come, even if you have broken your vows a thousand times. Come, yet again, come, come.” Rumi (No sniggering from the sex addicts)

I love alcoholics, we really are all or nothing people. Good luck on your marathons.

Come, come, whoever you are. Wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving. It doesn't matter. Ours is not a caravan of despair. Come, even if you have broken your vows a thousand times. Come, yet again, come, come.” Rumi (No sniggering from the sex addicts)

Well I ran a half marathon a few weeks ago. Ran my my first 10/11 unbelievably well. At the start of the race I was buried in 3000 other runners and had to use the bathroom haha.. The gun went off and I ran till about mile 11 and my bladder felt like it was going to explode. Had to walk/run the last two and finished 2:17.

Im now training for a triathlon. Learning how to ride in a group with a local club. They seem way more uptight with their rules. This alky don't like rules or to be told what to do. So far it's been ok, but I usually go home grumbling.

Congratulations on completing the half marathon! I can definitely relate to having the rough start. I ran my first (and only) half marathon to celebrate my 2 year AA birthday. Spent the first 2 miles weaving in and out of the pack, then realized I had to pee something fierce! I made a beeline for a port-a-potty at mile 4. It cost me a minute off my time, but it was worth it! I know a lot of hardcore runners who scoff because it's "only" the half marathon but who cares what they think? 13.1 miles is no easy task!

I'm tackling my first triathlon next month. It's a mini-tri (1/4 mile swim, 10 miles bike, 5k run). I figured I would start small and work up to a bigger one. I train alone, can you give any pointers for riding in a group? I don't want to cause a pileup!

Spirit Flower wrote:Insanity: doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.

Tosh, next weekend, I'm going to try the double marathon again.

Well I think most would agree that running back-to-back marathons is pretty insane. I hope the weather gods are kind to you and the miles pass swiftly by.

Good luck and Easy Does It (if that's even possible).

Come, come, whoever you are. Wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving. It doesn't matter. Ours is not a caravan of despair. Come, even if you have broken your vows a thousand times. Come, yet again, come, come.” Rumi (No sniggering from the sex addicts)